Off On the Wrong Foot
by Linwe Tinuviel
Summary: What would happen if Vincent got rescued before the whole Chaos thing happened, and his children ended up being in the same age group as Sephiroth? SephxOC eventually. T mostly for language. See my profile about updates.
1. An Unfortunate Meeting

**Author's Notes:** First of all, I am _broke_, Square-Enix! I lay no claim to Sephiroth, Vincent or Shinra. I _do_ claim Kyoko and her siblings and mother, along with assorted Scouts and friends throughout. You will get no moneys out of me!

Also… Just to give you an idea of this particular AU: This story starts about a year before the Nibelheim incident is due to happen, and, in case you're looking for it, it's not _going_ to happen, at least not in that way. Anywho, this is indeed an "alternate reality" sort of story. It mostly came about because I've had Vincent's and my OC's children running around in my head, and _that_ story is nowhere near where it needs to be for them. So, I found another place for them. Vincent was saved _before_ Hojo's final "experiment," and therefore does not have Chaos. He's still virtually indestructible and ridiculously strong, but not immortal, and he didn't sleep for all that time, so Kyoko (his oldest) is around 23-ish when this starts. Enjoy, and please comment? Pretty please? Thank you.

Oh, and I did a HUGE edit to make everything more... consistent. If you spot anything that argues with itself, LET ME KNOW. Thanks.

Kyoko Valentine sighed. She understood, in theory, why her father wanted her to train with the Turks, but theory got rather unconvincing on her days with Reno. The man hit on _everyone_, but especially someone new and "exotic" like Kyo. "Bugger," she muttered, checking her watch.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? Need help changing?" Never mind the fact that _Vincent_ Valentine would disembowel the idiot for some of his comments; Reno didn't care.

"No, thanks, Reno. What I _do_ need is a quick shower. I have to meet with some people on the other side of town in a half an hour, so I don't have time to get home." When he leered at her, mako-bright eyes gleaming, she sighed. "_Shower_, Reno. Just point me in the direction of hot water."

"Suit yourself." Kyo was surprised and a bit suspicious of the easy answer, but she didn't have time to speculate; if she wanted to make it even close to on time, she had to get done fast. The horny redhead gave her directions to a single bathroom, and she wondered if it was just that he planned to spy on her somehow.

It was weird, though: She _knew_ it was a busy time of day for Shinra employees, but there was nobody in the halls near this bathroom. Shrugging off her sudden unease, she closed the door and started to take off her clothes

***

Sephiroth was exhausted. Between Hojo's "tests" and the rigorous recruit training, he was not surprised that his feet were on autopilot to "his" shower. But, as he got close to it, he heard the water running and faint singing. The General's cat-green eyes narrowed. He'd emphasized way too many times the fate that awaited anyone caught here on his Hojo days. This left a few possibilities: First, and most likely, it was one of the insane number of women who would try _any_ stunt to get into his bed. This particular situation hadn't come up before, but other, equally embarrassing ones, had. Second, and almost as likely, a new employee or recruit had forgotten that this was a Hojo day. If they hadn't encountered him before on these days, they wouldn't have a reason to memorize them… yet. The last possibility was highly unlikely, given the well-documented ferocity of his temper, but still could happen: Someone was pulling a "prank" against a poor novice, who honestly didn't know this rule yet. He muttered to himself about seriously asking the President and trainers to include it in Orientation.

As he drew closer, he saw Reno. _Great_, he thought. _It __**is**__ a prank._ Upon seeing him, Reno's face instantly changed from his usual indolence to (definitely fake) alarm and concern. "Sir! I heard the water running and was just about to see who's in there, and warn them before you arrived." The singing stopped at the sound of his voice.

Sephiroth snorted. "Cut the bull, Reno. You wouldn't be _near_ here unless you were personally involved. Who is it? Some poor girl with enough sense not to believe your smooth talk, but not enough that you couldn't give her directions?" At the redheaded Turk's wince, he knew he'd hit it dead-on. "Reno, I am _not_ an instrument of petty revenge, and I am _tired._ You'll be lucky if I don't take it out on you."

"Excuse me," a somewhat familiar girl's voice cut in over the water. "Is there a problem?"

"Who are you?" Seph replied. "Are you new here?"

"No, I don't technically work here," she laughed. "My name is Kyo. I work out with the Turks a couple of days a week."

That description, combined with the voice and the name… "Kyo? As in Kyoko Valentine?" The green eyes hardened. It was probably because it was a Hojo day, but he was suddenly feeling…belligerent. To Reno's shock, the General opened the bathroom door, stepped in, and slammed it shut behind him.

"Oh, shit," Reno said, and immediately left the area.

***

Kyo started to answer the stranger. "Yes— Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Don't you have any manners?" Kyo was alarmed until she saw the face of her intruder when he pulled the curtain back. At the sight of the silver-haired SOLDIER, her alarm turned to anger. "_You_. I might have known you would lack common courtesy."

For his part, Sephiroth was startled out of the worst of his own anger at the venom in the girl's voice. "You're in _my_ shower," he replied, just as acidly. "Just because Reno is trying to get you in trouble, it doesn't follow that you have the right to be rude to me."

"You started it. Get the hell out so I can change, and you can have it back."

He blinked. It wasn't that he hadn't expected to chase her off this fast, it was that she definitely had something against him _personally_. He had a grudge against the Valentine children, and a bigger one against Vincent himself, but he had no idea why the ill-feeling seemed to be returned. "What did I ever do to you? I know who you are, but we've never met, that I'm aware."

She snorted and turned to face him for a moment. He saw that she had her father's golden-brown eyes and her mother's dark red hair, and was altogether very pretty. "As if you didn't know," she scoffed.

"As a matter of fact," he replied, starting to get irritable again, "I have no idea."

"I'm sure you've done so many awful things by now that you have to block them out to sleep at night, and one incident wouldn't ring a bell." She turned her back to him again, as he stared in befuddlement. She wasn't making any sense.

Kyo turned away so she wouldn't give in to the temptation to slap the confusion off that (damnably) handsome face. She could not _believe_ he didn't know what she was referring to. Saru still couldn't sleep without medication. He had to be faking it. She turned around again and yelped. The infuriating man was now in the shower with her. Naked. "What in Odin's name do you think you're doing?"

"You're using up all the hot water. You can get around me to get to your clothes." He winced as he flexed the shoulder with the missing wing. The amputation hadn't been clean, and it always bothered him when he over-exerted himself. "I'm sore. I have bruises on top of bruises on top of scars."

"Odd, then, that you would subject anyone else to that." To her own irritation, Kyo found her voice to be a bit less confrontational. The General was scarred all over his muscular, well-formed body. Luckily, his back was turned for the moment. She dragged her eyes away. "What did you think happened to those boys you caught at Red Butte two months ago?"

Seph turned to look at her, stricken. "It was a standard pick-up. We usually turn 'em over to the grunts, who fine them and let them go. Nothing unusual."

"That's because you never picked up a Valentine before. Hojo knew there was something unusual about the one boy who _wasn't_ let go, my youngest brother Masaru. It took my parents a week to find out what had happened, and two more to get him back. We were lucky he was busy, or we wouldn't have been able to save Saru." Kyoko stepped around the SOLDIER, who touched her arm.

"I would _never_ turn anyone over to that man voluntarily. There have been times where I have envied you and your siblings, but I would not knowingly inflict this," he gestured to his scars, "on anyone. I may be jealous, but I wouldn't put you in my place."

"Envied _us_? Why?"

"Partly for the same reason I was resentful of all 'normal' children: you have families who care about you, parents to protect you. But I begrudged Vincent's children the most, because you had the childhood _I _should have, or close to it." He stared at the porcelain of the bath, green eyes clouded. "If your father hadn't fought with my mother that one day, he would have been _my_ father, not yours."

"Oh." Kyoko tried to picture this, and failed. "But… Dad said Lucrecia helped Professor Gast free him; he said it was her idea."

"She was too far along with me to go with him. Deep down, I guess she hoped Hojo would pity her for that, if nothing else." Seph shook his head, silver hair plastered to his face. "Vincent should have _made_ her go."

"He tried to…" Kyo started, but the man cut her off.

"Yeah, he tried really hard. He met your mother, what, two, three weeks later? And it was suddenly like mine had never existed."

That's not true!" Kyo protested. "My parents _still_ fight about her, more than twenty years later, because Dad has nightmares about not saving her! Professor Gast had to _tie him up_ to keep him from going back for both of you. He didn't even _notice_ my mother until Lucrecia had been dead for a year." She glared at him, and something in his eyes made hers kindle. "You selfish bastard; you'd rather he had _died_ trying than find any kind of happiness with us."

Sephiroth was left to stare after her as she dressed hurriedly and left, slamming the door so hard the showerhead rattled. _Am I really that bad?_ He thought. _Would I prefer it if Vincent had died?_


	2. Aftermath

**Notes: **Yay. Time to meet the Valentine clan. Oh, and if the nicknames sound odd, I just liked how "Haru and Saru" sounded for twins.

And though I hear his voice in my head, and envision him doing naughty things sometimes, I do not lay any claim to Sephiroth, or Vincent Valentine, the assorted people in Shinra, Shinra itself, or any other FFVII characters that happen to wander through. They all belong to Square-Enix. Or at least Square-Enix says they do, and I won't argue.

Kyoko was only paying only half of her attention to the clients. Most of these meetings were the same thing anyway: Either the Scouts weren't working fast enough or the client thought they were taking too much out of their overstuffed wallets. Kyoko and her brother, Tatsuya, tended to handle those cases bluntly, like their mother, Tera. "If you had given me more detail at the initial meeting, I wouldn't have had to waste a whole squad to find out what you already knew." Her mouth was more or less running on auto while she brooded over the meeting with Sephiroth. It knew what to do without interference from her distracted brain. _I can't believe he let me get away with talking to him like that!_ She thought. Everyone knew about the General's temper.

Tseng had been right outside when she'd emerged. "May I walk to the Hall with you? Reno came and found me." At Kyo's tight nod, the Turks' second-in-command fell in beside her and explained the meaning of "Hojo days" and why Reno had gladly turned himself in for a reprimand, severe pay docking, and suspension instead of letting Seph within a hundred yards of him. "So you might want to look out for Sephiroth later," the dignified man said. "He doesn't take criticism well."

"I rather think I shocked him," Kyo replied, at the door to the Hall. With nothing more but a headshake, Tseng returned to Shinra. Kyo stared after him, then went inside.

Now, half an hour into this meeting, she fretted about what the silver-haired man would do to her when he got over being shocked. Outwardly normal, she scolded the client for being stingy about paying their expenses, but she shuddered inside. Whatever Sephiroth did, she couldn't count on anyone to get her out of it.

KV

Sephiroth, meanwhile, had finished his shower and was sitting in his office. Kyoko was right in thinking his temper would resurface, but he was smarter than to go straight after her. Vincent Valentine had been no one to trifle with, even before Hojo had gotten his hands on the ex-Turk. Seph knew that Vincent had been the prototype for himself, which made him more than a bit wary to approach the older man. On top of that, as much as Seph hated to admit it, even in his head, he'd asked for every bit of what he'd gotten from the girl.

It was in this odd combination of moods that Zack Fair found him. "Hey! I heard about part of what happened. I would be expecting you to be breaking someone's head by now."

"I might be, except for a few important details: First of all, Verdot made it clear to me that he personally dealt with Reno. Reno being Reno is no kind of reason for me to cross the Turks. Secondly, the girl is Vincent Valentine's oldest daughter, and, from what Verdot told me, the light of Vincent's existence. If I tried anything on her, I'd have **him** to deal with, and I would rather not." He hesitated, then added, knowing the response he would get, "And I barged in on her after she offered to vacate the shower; I kind of had it coming."

"I'm just surprised anyone, much less a pretty girl, had the guts to give it to you," the black-haired SOLDIER admitted, obviously hiding amusement. "Even if you don't intimidate the ladies, you're The Hero Sephiroth, and, as I hear it, more than easy on a girl's eyes."

"Hot," Sephiroth replied. "They say I'm 'hot,' Zack. My hearing, as you know, is quite good, and I know what the word means. I gave Kyoko more than ample chance to be in awe of my hotness, and she was having none of it." He sighed. _Might as well get it over with._ He gave the younger man the details of his encounter, and Zack did his best not to laugh in the General's face. "Oh, go on. At least you're trying to be nice about it."

At his cantankerous tone of voice, Zack burst out laughing, bent double. "Oh, Ramuh, Seph. That would have been a sight worth seeing. You're so…cool, all the time." He looked up, purple eyes streaming, to see his austere friend's lips twitching. In temper or in mirth?

Sephiroth actually grinned, and admitted, "I was kind of hoping that, if not my hotness, then at least my nakedness would startle her."

"From the sound of it, you're lucky she didn't decide to take a kick at you!"

"I'm sure she thought about it." He was about to say more, but then his eyes went opaque with a sudden, evil thought. "Hmmm…"

"I know that look," Zack said, running his hand through his spiky hair. "What are you up to?"

S S S

"Kyoko!" Master Scout Tera Valentine snapped her fingers at her distant-eyed daughter. "You've been daydreaming since you got back from Shinra; pay attention! Or would you _like_ to offend Captain Arved?"

"No, Mo- I mean Captain." Tat could get away with calling her, "Mom," but Kyo knew she never would. As it was, the near-slip made her mother's eyes narrow. "I _was_ listening," the young woman added, defensively. She summarized her mother's speech perfectly, and some of the hostility left Tera's face.

"Right. Saru wants your help with his paper." The look in those cobalt blue eyes said that the woman couldn't tell why Kyo's youngest brother wanted anything to do with her.

"Tat could do it," the sixteen-year-old boy said, "but I like it when you do, because you help me figure out what I'm doing."

"With writing, anyway. With math, you'd be better off with Tat, or even Haru." She winked at him. They both knew his twin and Tatsuya were the logical ones in the family, while Kyo and Saru were more creative. Not that the two were mutually exclusive, but one did tend to outweigh the other.

"Too true," Saru agreed. Despite their mother's animosity, and Kyo's own guilt, she and the twins were amazingly close. Since Tera was so often gone, doing Scout things, Haru turned to her older sister for girl stuff. And it was not at all hard to tell that they were siblings, unlike Kyo and Tat, because all three of them had Vincent's golden eyes, although Masaru had the most pronounced red highlights. "So, how are things at Shinra?" Although Tera would be mortified if she knew all the things Kyoko told her brother, Saru was fascinated by it all.

Their mother would be even more shocked to hear how much Kyo told him about Sephiroth. She told him about the whole thing, and he laughed. "So I don't know exactly what he plans to do about it, but I'm betting it won't be pleasant," she concluded.

"Sounds like you," Saru chuckled. "Aren't you afraid of him?"

Since it _was _Saru, she replied, "Well…a little, but I was angry. You know how I get."

No doubt he had a smartass reply, but Shiori interrupted it. "Kyo! Kyo! Daddy sent me up to get you! You got **flowers!**" Like a redheaded boomerang, the youngest Valentine flew into Masaru's room, then back out.

"What?" The two older redheads exchanged a look and followed her. Downstairs, Vincent was staring fixedly at the dining room table, where a gorgeous, massive bouquet of mixed flowers sat. Kyo saw that the card was open, and her mother was gone. "You know, I'm twenty-three. I think I'm capable of opening my own damn messages."

"Kyoko," her father said. She didn't often hear that tone of voice. There was anger there, but also fear and frustration. "What happened at Shinra today?"

Masaru's mouth opened. "You're _kidding_," he said. "Those can't be from…"

Vincent gave Kyo a Look, and she shrugged, and walked around him to pick up the card, reading it aloud. "'Kyoko, I apologize for my outburst this afternoon. I hope this does not affect any future collaboration we may have, and if you would like to avoid working with Reno again, I would be more than willing to spar with you. Sephiroth.'" Her jaw came unhinged. "Is this another joke of Reno's?"


	3. Arrangements

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to update, and if this chapter really doesn't go anywhere, it's because it's setting something up. If it's too long, someone please tell me. I get carried away sometimes. Thanks for the reviews so far!

**Disclaimer:** Oh, I suppose. I don't have any rights to the Turks, Verdot, Angeal, Sephiroth, Vincent, Hojo (Thank God for that), and any other character from FFVII that happens to show up (for the food?). Square-Enix has them, and much joy may they have of Hojo.

Kyoko stared at the vase on her dresser yet again, still not sure, even after an hour, that it was really there. She heard her parents shouting at each other and sighed. Typically, Tera was more upset that Kyo had been telling Masaru all about her adventures in Shinra. Neither parent brought up the concern that their oldest daughter might have a stalker with a nine-foot katana, who, incidentally, was the genetic son of the man who had almost killed Vincent. "I'm sorry, sis," Saru said. He and his twin were sitting on Kyoko's bed. "It slipped out 'cause I was so surprised."

"No worries." Kyo grinned. "At least they're not plotting to go after Sephiroth with pointy bits of wood. I want to deal with him myself."

"Are you sure?" Harumi asked. "He's dangerous; maybe you should let Dad do it."

"No way. Dad will leave little Sephiroth bits all over Shinra, just because the guy gave me a bouquet. There is a slight possibility he's being serious, and he wouldn't try to kill me in front of Verdot. He's _got_ to be an improvement over Reno, anyway." She hugged her brother's shoulders. "I'll talk to Verdot tomorrow; since he's the only one there with my address, he has to know what's going on."

Haru conceded, "Dad does tend to go a touch overboard, especially when it's Shinra, for some reason."

"Let me take care of Sephiroth," Kyo reiterated. "If he was being serious, there's no problem. Even if he wasn't, Verdot won't let him bring Masamune into practice." _I hope_, she thought.

K V

"You still might get the wrath of Vincent Valentine down on your head for that little stunt," the head of the Turks warned Seph, who smiled.

"You mistake me, Verdot," the SOLDIER was quick to reassure the older man when he sighed. "I'm not taking Mr. Valentine lightly, but from what I've heard, and from what I saw myself, his daughter will take care of this herself. She seems determined to be her own person. And I meant what I said: Reno is too much of a… adolescent… to learn any better from this experience, and I'd rather avoid further trouble, so I'd be happy to work out with Kyoko. Rude says she's amazing."

Verdot sighed again. "You know it's _unarmed_, right?" At Sephiroth's scornful nod, he added, "And for the love of Shiva, **don't tell Hojo.**"

The green-eyed General gave him a look that made his blood freeze. "Didn't need to be said." After letting the chill sink in, only compounded by his voice, he said, "Are we finished?"

"Yes. Kyoko wanted to talk to me and, despite how much progress we've made, my sanity will thank you if you don't encounter her again just yet. Besides, Angeal wanted to talk to you." Verdot stared at his desk. _That could have gone worse._

Kyo knocked on his door a bit later and came in and plopped into a chair. "Morning, sir. You look a bit…harried."

"Hi, Kyo. I'm fine. You wanted to talk about General Sephiroth, I take it?"

"Yep. I just want your opinion: Was his apology sincere? I'd rather not get my father involved in this if it can be avoided, since he can be a bit…excessive when it comes to protecting his family." Her gaze, though warmer by far than Sephiroth's, was just as penetrating.

"I'm pretty sure he's serious," he replied. "I just talked to him, and he certainly sounded like he meant it. He repeated his offer to spar with you, and his schedule is more fluid than the Turks' are, so it would be easier on you as well."

She studied him again. "There's something else."

"Well, frankly, I don't know if it's your genetics, or if you're just that damn good, but you're getting _too_ good for most of the Turk trainees, at least. In unarmed combat, which is what you'd do with the General, you win at least three bouts of five with my people. Sephiroth could definitely give you more of a challenge, possibly too much. He _is_ a SOLDIER."

Kyo nodded. "Whatever Hojo did to Dad, it seems that a fair bit of it is hereditary, so I can't honestly say my siblings and I are totally human." She bit her lip, thinking. "What we do know is that Mako infusions, like the SOLDIERs get, would kill us. When I was very small, back before the nasty side effects of Mako were public knowledge, I got the fever, and the doctor tried a .1% Mako infusion potion, and it threw me into convulsions for a week."

"That I did not know," Verdot admitted, frowning. "Your brother--?"

"Is fine. We got him back before Hojo could do more than preliminary tests." She shook her head. "We tend to keep quiet about the odder things about being Valentines, but there's a reason I'm bringing it up now. A foolproof test has been devised to check for Mako sensitivity. I know the regular med staff isn't answerable directly to Hojo; can they run the screen on me and put it in my personnel record? It probably won't _stop_ Hojo, but it might slow him down long enough to save my life if it comes to that."

"An excellent idea. I'll schedule you for an overall physical, and put you under the 'Outside Special' trainee class. We occasionally get people from around Gaia who want their bodyguards trained with the Turks, and Hojo's not allowed to mess with them, as a general rule, unless the sponsor gives a direct dispensation." It was Verdot's turn to measure up Kyo. "If it's all right with you, we should put you in under your mother's maiden name. The name 'Valentine' might get you into trouble."

"More trouble, you mean. Oh, all right." He smiled in sympathy, as Tseng came in and respectfully reminded them that it was time for Kyo's sparring match with him. "Right, well, I have a meeting to go to. Sephiroth and I decided that it would be safer for you two to act like you've never met, so go with that, okay?"

KV S

Seph watched the Valentine girl go full-tilt at Tseng. By Odin, she was fast. Tseng obviously was having trouble tracking her movements, and the SOLDIER was faring little better. "Who is that?" The voice behind him made him shift a bit.

"Verdot's new trainee, Professor," he replied respectfully. "An Outside Special, I believe."

"Bah," Hojo spat. "That means she's off-limits to my team, I take it? So much I could learn…"

"Very much off-limits," Verdot answered for the General. "I apologize, Professor, but Kyoko's mentors would be very upset if something happened to her. Besides, she seems to be one of the rare people who react badly to refined Mako."

"She's been tested?"

"By an outside source. Don't worry; Dr. Argo has her scheduled for a full check up later this week. I have no doubt we'll confirm it; she shares a lot of characteristics with the few other Mako-sensitives I've met."

Sephiroth was feeling uneasy at the almost open power struggle between the two older men and said, "If you will excuse me, sirs, I wanted to ask her some questions. Her name is Kyoko, Verdot?"

"Yes. Kyoko Balia. You'll want to watch out, Sephiroth. She has a tongue sharper than that blade of yours."

"I'll be careful," the SOLDIER chuckled. Kyo and Tseng had finished and were watching the three of them warily. "Hello," Seph said, acting friendly. He hoped to Bahamut that the girl had enough self-preservation to curb her attitude a bit. "I'm General Sephiroth, as you are no doubt aware. I was watching you two, and I have a request." Phrasing it like that would, he hoped, keep her from being on the defensive. "Verdot tells me you're the new special trainee, Kyoko?"

"That's right." She hesitated for a bare instant, then sighed and added, "Call me Kyo. Everyone does. What can I do for you, sir?" The "sir" galled her; he could see it in the flash of her eyes, but she concealed it well.

"Well, according to Angeal, the head of SOLDIER, I'm getting far too dependent on Masamune. He says I need to improve my unarmed combat, just in case something happens." He half-consciously reached for the sword hilt, but he'd left it behind. "From what I've seen, and from what I've heard, you might be able to help me." He tried to keep his amusement at her irritation hidden, but something must have shown in his green eyes, because her golden ones narrowed.

"I'd have to see if one of the Turks would mind me dropping my workout with _them_, because my, ah, other duties take up too much time for me to be able to add an additional session to my schedule."

This time, the handsome, maddening man didn't bother to conceal his derisive chuckle. "Oh, I'm quite sure that will not pose any problems." Timing it for when none of the others, especially Hojo, couldn't see, she stuck her tongue out at him. He wasn't sure whether to laugh again or be shocked at her continued audacity.

"Well, my aforementioned duties call. A pleasure to meet you, General. I'll let you know when my schedule opens up." She regarded him for a second, then with a smirk so fast that he thought he'd imagined it, added, "Or perhaps you'll tell me." Tseng laughed at that and Seph only sighed.

"I'm looking forward to it."


	4. Confrontations

**Author's Notes:** Okay, we're getting involved enough with the Turks and the plot enough that I thought I'd take a time-out and explain a couple of things. First of all, I really, especially right now, wish that I could get my hands on Before Crisis. It's _all_ about the Turks, but it's also _all_ a cell-phone game in Japan. So, pretty much all I've taken from it is names and descriptions. So I thought I'd give a quick thank you to the Final Fantasy Compendium, without which I would be utterly stuck. They can be found at .com. They have info about _all_ the games (except Crisis Core, since it's not out in English yet), and an organized layout ao it's easy to find stuff. Anyway, enough babble. For anyone who was itching to see Kyo and Tera get into it, they do a bit here.

**Disclaimer:**__I've thought about leaving this off, since it's a chapter, not a whole new story, but with my luck, Square-Enix would find this chapter, and I'd be in trouble. So… I lay claim to the Valentine family (outside of Vincent, of course), and no one else. I wouldn't want Hojo if you offered him to me anyway.

Since her workout with Reno had been immediately before the new arrangements had been made, Kyo knew she wouldn't have to face Sephiroth for a few days yet. Verdot was not about to let _all_ of the Turks drop out of practicing with her, so it was only Reno and some of the busier or worst-overmatched trainees. Reno, however, would soon wish he was still sparring with Kyoko, because Verdot, to emphasize his punishment, had replaced her with a harder opponent. "Just because I saved him from the respective wraths of you and Sephiroth, that doesn't mean I don't want him to feel the same pain," he had remarked to Vincent.

But, for the next couple of days, Kyo had her regular workouts with Rude and both of the Turks called Martial Arts. Since either of the latter two could flatten Sephiroth, there hadn't been a chance of them dropping out. As the calm, professional kick mistress had said to Kyo, "It's nice having a challenge who is _not_ Mako-enhanced."

After a satisfactory couple of bouts with Rude, Kyoko actually had time to go home and rest before doing anything else, so that's what she did. Harumi, knowing that Kyo was going to do this, and because the relationship between Kyo and Tera had gotten so much worse lately, had anticipated her. "Hi! I have lunch for us," the black-haired girl greeted when her wary sister came in.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that. It's not like Rude wore me out too bad to make a salad."

"I know, but I also know that Dad usually does something like that, and he's not here right now. Besides, I made enough for Saru and me, too." Haru winked. "So don't go getting all noble on me, k?"

Kyoko laughed, and grabbed some drinks. The two of them went up to Kyo's room, which was the gathering place for the older children. "Hi," Saru said, already there. "How was today?"

"Normal, since Rude is more or less totally opposite from his partner. No sight of Sephiroth or Hojo all day. Rude even told me what Verdot decided to do about Reno, but, I dunno…"

Masaru pouted. "Oh, come on, Kyo. That's not fair!"

"Tell, tell," his twin urged.

But before Kyo could, they heard a cleared throat. Tera was standing in the doorway, blue eyes cold. "Telling them more stories about how Shinra's 'not that bad'?" she said. "Perhaps you're to have tea with the President tomorrow, so he can introduce you to Hojo, who will turn out to like knitting?" This was so preposterous that both twins snorted.

Kyo merely replied, "Actually I saw the good doctor yesterday, though we didn't speak. Verdot did some clever verbal fencing to place me out of his reach." When she was pushed to her limit, she gained Vincent's dispassionate calm under fire. Her tone showed a bit more asperity, though, as she added, "I judge the Shinra as I was taught as a child to judge everyone: equally, by individual standards. Tseng and Verdot are very strict, but fair. For example, instead of dealing with me, Reno now has to practice with a SOLDIER Second Class. Even Father could not ask for a better or harsher punishment."

"True," Vincent agreed. He had arrived with his trademark silence, and added, "I'll have to thank Sephiroth for making that possible. From what Verdot says about your skills, it's well past time that _one_ of us came to see you spar in person. When is your first workout with the General?"

"Thursday, a bit after my physical." Kyoko winced, then added, "Just so you know, Tseng told me that Hojo has Sephiroth scheduled for an appointment at the same time as my physical so he might be more…" She hunted for a diplomatic word.

"Brutal?" Saru suggested. "No worries, big sister. He'll be unarmed."

Vincent chuckled. "I was aware of that, Kyoko. I was hoping my presence would allay some of that."

Tera snorted. "You're coddling her, Vincent. What if she has to face a SOLDIER in a rage in reality one day?"

"This is her first combat encounter with him; if something that serious was going to happen, we'd know already," her husband replied to the latter part of the statement. "If I know Hojo, he's already scheduled Sephiroth to have 'tests' every day before he faces Kyo."

Kyo nodded. "Verdot put me out of reach, so that would be his only way of monitoring me without being able to 'test' me. Poor Sephiroth; I wonder if there's any way to lighten some of that?" Eyes widened all around as they realized she was serious. "Oh, come _on_. Would any of you want to see Hojo at all, much less twice as often?"

Saru shuddered and shook his head, and Tera gave her oldest a look that had knives in it. Vincent, however, smiled proudly. "You're right. From what I've heard, despite Hojo and his temper, the General is a good, honorable person. I'm like you: I wouldn't wish Hojo on anyone."

"Someone ought to do something unpleasant about him," Harumi muttered, and Kyoko laughed, then sobered as something occurred to her.

"Oh, right." She glanced at her mother, sighed and took the drop. "Verdot has me listed in personnel under Mom's maiden name, just as an extra precaution." She winced at the derisive noise Tera made, and added, "It isn't much, but he was worried that the name 'Valentine' would set Hojo right off."

"He's pursued me as well," Tera said sardonically. "How do you know my name wouldn't have the same effect?"

"Because it didn't. Verdot 'introduced' me to Sephiroth with Hojo present. Since that was yesterday, and Hojo saw me sparring with Tseng, he'd know he had to move _immediately_. If he'd made the connection, he certainly knows who you're married to."

"You'd better hope so," the Scout Captain replied. They stared at each other for a frozen minute, then Tera spun and left. Vincent opened his mouth, possibly to respond to the sadness in his daughter's face, but she shook her head and waved him off.

"I'm going to be the end of their marriage if Dad doesn't stop taking my side all the time," she told the twins, thinking, _Just like I was the beginning._

KV

Hojo had, in fact, already rearranged Sephiroth's schedule to suit himself. "You can blame Verdot for this, boy," he said. "If he'd let me test that new girl, you wouldn't have to go through this as often."

The silver-haired man gritted his teeth. He didn't blame Verdot, or even Kyoko for this. _That_ rested on the same hunched shoulders as it had his whole life. "Verdot is constrained by the wishes of the girl's mentors, as well as the knowledge that she is possibly Mako-sensitive. He would not wish to anger any patrons."

Hojo snorted. "Her sensitivity is a reason I wish to study her. Those aberrations tend to have very interesting abilities, many of them drawn straight from the Planet. Gast once theorized that it was this that made them susceptible to the processed Mako." If it wasn't for the fact that he had grown up around this kind of talk, and had thus learned to control himself, Sephiroth would have slapped the skinny little egomaniac. Seph himself was more of an "aberration" than Kyoko, and, even if she wasn't totally human, that was probably totally Hojo's fault.

None of this surfaced in his voice when he said, "She has shown little indication of this before, apart from being almost supernaturally fast."

"She could be hiding it; she probably is." Hojo waved him off. "Begone. You are not suited to this sort of postulating."

Turning on his heel before he did something that would get him in trouble, the SOLDIER left. Angeal saw him slam the door behind him and said, "He been pushing your buttons again?"

"When doesn't he?" As usual, the senior SOLDIER's presence in itself was soothing. "The man thinks first of himself, second of his 'experiments,' and of absolutely nothing else. There's only so much of being treated like a stupid but well-trained dog that one can take."

"Come on down to my office and have a drink. I wanted to talk to you anyway. If possible, little to none of it will deal with Hojo." Seph agreed readily; if anyone would understand how much Hojo's attitude galled him and, more importantly, _why_ it did, it would be Angeal, who sometimes feared that he was a monster himself.

"I should have talked to you about this sooner," he admitted to his friend. "I have a 'situation' going on with one of Vincent Valentine's children…"


	5. Challenges

**Author's Note: **Yeah, I know it's been awhile. Sometimes it just doesn't flow like you want it to and I'm in the middle of six other writing projects, so sometimes this one gets the shaft. That, and for maybe the second time since I started writing it, it gave me writer's block for a bit. We're back on track now…I think.

**Disclaimer:** This one's a bit different. Not only did I use vast amounts of Shinra personnel (and Vincent) from Square-Enix, I also…ahem…borrowed something from Terry Pratchett's _Thief of Time_. The name was too good to pass up, and it serves its purpose well here.

Angeal's words came back to Seph as he stalked off to the fighting room. "I'm rather surprised she's managed to unnerve you so badly. Even when you're not trying, you have an incredible force of personality. For her to resist you she must have either a colossal amount of willpower, or she's got the same charisma you do."

"Probably both," Seph had said, "much to my dismay. However, for all her baiting, I think I'm starting to like her, if only because she _does_ treat me like a normal human being. It's a novelty, if nothing else." He shrugged. "Our first match is on Thursday. We'll see what happens."

Now it was Thursday, and Hojo had to have been deliberately trying to bring him to the brink of rage, because the ordeal had been worse than usual. He hoped that some of Vincent's resilience was genetic, because he did not feel like going easy on Kyo.

S S S S S S

The physical had gone well, and Kyoko was cautiously optimistic. She was certainly Mako-sensitive, to a degree that had startled all the doctors, so now the only one to worry about was Hojo. Of course, that was like saying she could stop worrying about the little minnows nibbling her toes, but the piranha was still after her, but it was something anyway. Dr. Argo had commented that, in his opinion, Mako wouldn't make _that_ much difference anyway: Kyo was already superhumanly fast and almost indestructible. Which led back to the bad news: She was about to see how far "almost" was.

Even with Vincent in silent but prominent attendance, you could feel the tension vibrating off the walls. Sephiroth was obviously trying to keep his temper, and the couple dozen people gossiping and staring could not be helping. They had an audience, consisting mostly of Turks, but Kyo could swear she'd seen some of the Shinra high-ups, although Hojo was nowhere in evidence. Reno, looking the much worse for wear from his last week, was leaning against a wall in plain sight and telling anyone in hearing range that this girl was going to get what was coming to her.

Kyo wish she could disagree. She cursed her fast mouth, and wished, irrelevantly, that the General had dressed normally. Gone was the long black coat and sleek black boots. The long, fine, silver hair was pulled back in a long tail, and the Sephiroth that stood before her was standing barefoot in his fairly tight black pants…and nothing else. At least half of their audience was a visibly drooling female component.

The men had plenty to drool at as well. Instead of wearing her street clothes, Kyo had a long, black tunic, cut past the thighs, and, in a concession to decency, skintight, dark red leggings. Her auburn hair was braided tightly, and she wore a red headband. They both looked ready for business.

As Sephiroth stretched, those who saw his back (and were in the right frame of mind to notice details) saw the reason the well-built General preferred not to go shirtless in public. The right side of his back was normal, unless you knew what you were looking for, as Vincent did, and he saw the muscles that indicated where a wing could be. The left side, however, was mostly one wide, jagged scar, from the base of Sephiroth's neck to the bottom of his shoulder blades. Obviously, something had been torn out, since even the tendons looked wrong. Both shoulders were tense at the moment, and Vincent was suddenly worried for Kyoko's safety. As if sensing his concern, the girl glanced at the two older men in the opposite observation room from the girls and Reno, and winked. "She's up to something," Vincent said, seeing an all-too-familiar impish grin. Verdot nodded.

Kyoko looked around her and commented, clearly, "So…since all these busy people have taken time out to see this, I think we should answer a burning question or two, don't you, General?"

Seph arched an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?" She gave a quick glance around, and he answered her questioning look with a very slight shake of his head. Hojo preferred to avoid Vincent Valentine whenever possible.

"Well, apart from the occasional smartass asking if we're sleeping together, the question I hear most is about which of us is faster. There has to be some way to find out, short of some pointless race or something. Any thoughts?"

"There's the Device of Erratic Balls," he replied, green eyes twinkling. Several of the watchers, notably Reno, snorted at the name, but Verdot looked alarmed. "Don't worry. We'll build up gradually, and I'm sure we're both tough enough to take a hit from _one_ of the balls."

Kyo snorted. "Oh, I could take two balls, I think." Seph tried very hard to keep a straight face, while half of the Turks burst out laughing. Vincent's lips twitched, and Kyo grinned. "But that sounds like a good idea."

"Are you gonna _fight_, Chickenshit?" Reno taunted her.

"Yes, Reno. We are. This is what people who actually know what they're doing call a 'warm up.'"

Seph sighed. "Trust me, Reno; it'll take more than a bit of dodging around to wear me out." Kyo was clearly getting him not warmed up, but cooled off, in such a way that he wouldn't do anything he'd regret. "I use this as an agility exercise all the time."

The Device was a huge wooden cube with holes in the front. There was a very good reason that the walls were padded heavily, and both observation rooms ran parallel to the trajectory of the machine. The wooden balls, at top speed, moved so fast that a normal person wasn't aware of the movement, just the impact as they hit something. Seph fiddled with the knobs, setting the speed to medium. Even raw recruits could dodge most of the balls on low. "Ladies first," he said.

Everyone but the Turks and her father watched in awe as Kyo went from casual movements all the way up to lightning-fast evasions. She managed to dodge two volleys from the fastest speed, but moved just a hair too far to the left and one of the balls grazed her. "Dammit. I lost the pattern," she said. She didn't seem to be hurt at all, just irritated.

Seph took his place in front of the machine, and to everyone's surprise, only just managed to get up to the fastest setting when a ball slapped into his stomach. "Oof!" Kyo flipped off the machine and was kneeling down before any of the idiot girls staring could as much as gasp.

"You okay?" Seph nodded, winded. "Didn't get you in the ribs, did it? He shook his head. "Here." Reaching out both hands, she helped him easily to his feet. He saw the bruise right above her left elbow, but she seemed to be ignoring it. "Still good for a match?" she asked, ignoring the commotion of the watchers, half of whom were shouting at her for even asking the question, while the other half (the girls) demanded that he be given a rest.

"Of course," the General replied with a faint smile. "As I expected, I'm now totally limbered up. And you are, indeed, faster than I am, if only by a bit."

She gave him the mischievous grin he'd come to like. "In all fairness, I'm a bit of an amateur musician, so I watch for rhythms; it was as much that as skill. But thank you all the same."

Seph shook his head. "No, it takes a great deal of speed and flexibility to avoid those. Even if you can catch the rhythm, following it is something else entirely. I am fairly beaten, and I shall retire briefly for a drink of water." He lowered his voice. "Thank you."

"What, for saving myself the problem of dealing with you angry? No problem there," Kyo laughed. Verdot and a Healer came down to check them both out.

"You're still getting five-to-one odds against you," he said. "You've proven you're faster, but he is physically stronger, and, well, most people just said, he's _Sephiroth_." Seph groaned at that, and Verdot chuckled.

Kyo shrugged, then stretched, making sure her arm wasn't going to slow her down in any way. She admired Seph, also stretching again, under her eyelashes. She thought she saw a couple of admiring glances her way as well, but with Vincent there, he wouldn't be open about it.

They both seemed to be ready, so Kyo launched herself at her opponent in a heartbeat. She knew her agility was her best known advantage, so she didn't hesitate. Seph parried her blows, but couldn't get a counter in before she ducked out of close contact again. She knew he'd eventually catch her if she kept doing that, though, so she had to tempt him into taking the offensive. They were both silent, not even hearing the shouts of encouragement to both sides that had started when they had. Kyo didn't even try any of the dirty street-fighting moves she knew; she wanted to assess him warrior to warrior, at least to start with. He lashed out at her with his foot, which she almost caught, but he recovered before she could take advantage of it.

So it went. Kyo had the advantage in that she was almost exclusively a hand-to-hand fighter as it was, and Seph really had become dependent on his sword, so he had some interesting blind spots that she exploited. But he learned instantly, and kept shifting his guard. They forgot anything but block and attack, wanting to know themselves who was going to win this.

As it went on, the watchers started leaving. You had to really appreciate this kind of fighting to watch it for any length of time, and this bout looked like it would take up the whole afternoon. All of the executives left, except Reeve Tuesti, going back to work. Even some of the field Turks had to go out. Those that remained were less than surprised about how well Kyo was doing; they'd all had to face her at one time or another. "This will get more interesting as they keep working out together," Katana commented. "He'll get more used to fighting without his weapon, and she'll get more used to his style and his abilities."

Rude nodded. "Agreed."

They took two mutual breaks to catch their breaths, both of which Seph had to spend tolerating being fussed over by the horde of girls, which was thinning as the ladies got bored. All of them left after that, for more entertaining pursuits.

So they, and most of the original audience, missed the moment they'd been waiting for. Kyo could tell she was _finally_ wearing the man out, and had allowed herself to be caught in a closer grapple than usual. Suddenly, in a blur, she slide-tripped Sephiroth and pinned him. "Bahamut's Flare, but that was fun," she said, golden eyes sparkling through the contacts Verdot had given her. She leaned back on his legs.

Seph laughed. "Of course it was; you won," he teased. Jaws that were starting to close from the startlement of the sudden ending dropped again. Seph was (justifiably) proud past the point of arrogance of his unique abilities. After having been beaten twice in one day, the observers were sure he'd at least be a bit sulky. Instead, he was laughing, flat on his back. Something of this shock must have shown through, because he added, more ruefully, "Angeal was right: I'm out of shape. I hope I don't lose Masamune any time soon, because I'll be in serious trouble if I do."

Kyoko snorted, levering herself up carefully. "Forgive my conceit, but I'm pretty sure that as long as you don't annoy me or my family, you should manage. I've been training since I could walk."

Reeve was the only outsider left, but he had long since guessed that this girl was his friend Vincent's daughter, so he only laughed and said, "She has a point, Seph. People like her aren't exactly a dime a dozen, you know. Good bout, both of you. I ought to get to work, but I had to see how it turned out."

As everyone dispersed to their own business, Seph caught Kyo's uninjured arm. "That _was_ fun," he said. "I'm looking forward to next time."


	6. IllConsidered Words

**Author's Note: **Since there has been at least one request to see the Valentines, here we go. Sorry for not updating in forever!

**Disclaimer:** Nope. Still don't own me a Vincent Valentine. I'd rather like to, but I think Square-Enix wants to keep him. His wife and children however, are mine. And I suppose S-E still wants Sephiroth, too. Fine. But that means they're still stuck with Hojo.

*****

Kyoko sat at her desk, typing up the report of her squad's last mission. Following that, she started her notes of that day's work at Shinra. She'd gotten into the habit of jotting things down right before she went to sleep, so they wouldn't chase themselves around in her head, keeping her up. These observations of hers had helped her win more than one fight in the past, and kept her from repeating her previous mistakes. She was about done when she heard whisper-soft motion behind her. Turning to see her father leaning on the doorframe, she smiled at him. "I will never understand why you and your mother insist on writing _everything_ down," he teased.

"Well in this case, I'm Sephiroth's unofficial trainer in hand-to-hand, I'm working on my 'lesson plans,'" she replied evenly. "I want him to be good, but not _too_ good. It's not like he won't bring that whacking great big sword with him everywhere anyway."

"Good. I was about to remind you that, little as any of us want it to happen, we might end up opposing your 'student' and his masters," Vincent said. His pupils were more red than usual, and Kyo guessed that her parents had been arguing again. "What will you do then?"

"If I was fool enough to try and close with him, I'd be toast anyway. Masamune would see to that. Your supposition is why _no one_ in Shinra, not even Verdot, knows how many weapons I can use, or, specifically, how deadly I am with knives." She shrugged. "Besides, there's no reason for him not to bring the sword with him to a fight, so all I'm doing is making him a bit less dependent, in case someone got lucky enough to disarm him. I'd probably still beat him, even a month from now." When Vincent raised his eyebrows at the confidence in that statement, she smiled again. "There's no way he's ever going to be faster than me, and knives are a damn sight easier to hide than a nine-foot holy katana."

"You're not teaching him anything _special_, are you?" That was her mother, stalking up to stand next to Vincent.

"Oh thank you very much for your trust in my sworn word, _Captain,_" Kyoko spat. "I haven't even used any variations on our Scout moves because quite a few of the Shinra are smart enough to pick up on them, including Sephiroth." Tera drew herself up, but Kyo interrupted her. "Don't even try to justify that with whatever hollow excuse you had. I don't feel like hearing it. Obviously, I'm not trustworthy enough to hear the _real_ reasons you're worried." That was low, but when Kyoko lost her temper, she tended to lose it impressively.

Vincent gave her a sharp look, then closed his eyes wearily as his wife responded. The problem, as he and the other children saw it, was that his wife and his oldest child were far too much alike. Kyo didn't quite have her mother's temper, thank the Planet, or blood probably would have been spilled before this. The specific problem this time was that Tera saw Kyoko's tolerance of Shinra employees and growing comradeship with Sephiroth as a betrayal. His beloved was famous for the grudges she could hold, and she was still furious that Hojo had as much free reign as he did. Part of it was what had happened to him, of course, but the origins lie in the fact that Tera's older brother had been killed by one of Hojo's "experiments." Adding that to Masaru's recent encounter, and, well, Vincent couldn't totally blame her for being irrational about Shinra.

Kyoko, on the other hand, was younger and more flexible. On top of that, as she had pointed out, she was taught to judge people by their actions. She had the (rare) ability to view people as people, and not as part of their organizations. The Turks had always had their own semi-autonomy within Shinra, and had as little to do with Hojo as possible. But even Vincent was a bit uneasy with how close his daughter was getting to Hojo's prime experiment, and, though the boy himself didn't know it, the doctor's blood son.

He came back to the argument (he'd been ignoring it while he thought) to hear that they had almost descended to personal insults. Before he could step in, Kyoko shocked him and Tera both. "I have had enough of this hypocritical bullshit. I am an adult, and I see no reason to remain here, since I'm obviously not trusted by my own mother." True to her word, she started packing up her computer gear while her parents watched in shock. "Tat! I need a hand!"

"It's two in the morning," Vincent said, when he had recovered a bit and realized she was totally serious. "I'm not trying to dissuade you, but if you wait until true morning, we can get some Chocobos, and your brother and I will help you." Tera shot him a startled look, but he knew Kyo well enough to know that once she set her mind on something, it happened.

Tatsuya, poking his head through the door cautiously, nodded in agreement with his father. "I might even be able to get a truck, if we're lucky." He saw his mother turn away then, and winced. "Harumi'll be pissed if you leave without saying goodbye," he added. Their sister was at a friend's for the night.

Tera pushed by her husband, who, knowing her better than anyone, could tell she was near tears. "Go, stay, see if I care," she muttered.

"Does the Captain wish me to continue leading my squad?" Kyo asked.

"Damn straight; d'you think squad leaders grow on trees? It'd take too long to train another." Vincent alone saw that, now that she realized she'd pushed Kyo too far, she was helping out as well as she could. "Meetings are still on Sundays, and, since I know you don't do anything at Shinra on that day, you might as well come for dinner, since the twins are going to be devastated that you're leaving." Both men flinched at that jab, as did Kyo.

"We're not going to go changing the locks, so stop by and visit whenever," Vincent said, more gently. Kyo didn't even smile at the jest. The remark about the twins had made her jaw tighten. "Verdot has a spare room at his house; I'll call him first thing in the morning."

When they had returned to their own bedroom, Tera turned on Vincent. "Why there? You're sending her straight into the heart of the beast!" Then she flinched, tears starting in her eyes. "No… I am."

"She'll be safer with Verdot than she would if she went apartment hunting," Vincent answered, ignoring her accusation. "And stop being so stubborn," he added, more gently, taking her hands in his. "You can fool the children, you can even still fool your Scouts, but I know you, and I know you're hurting, even if our pig-headed daughter missed it."

She let the tears come and threw herself into his arms. Stroking her hair, Vincent murmured, "She's an adult, whether we like it or not. This would have come sooner or later anyway. She'll be all right." Keeping up with the reassurances, he let her cry herself out.

********

Sephiroth woke up out of a dead sleep, cursing. His unusually pleasant dreams had been interrupted by a shadow. He fumbled for his clock. 3:30 in the morning. He swore again. Being in physical contact with a certain attractive woman had excited his imagination, and it didn't matter in his dreams that Vincent would tear him limb-from-limb if he even _thought_ of Kyo naked. He sighed. With Hojo already interested in her, it was too dangerous for her to get close to him anyway.

What had disturbed his sleep? He was used to waking up out of a nightmare, but, as his body attested, this had been no nightmare. He lay very still, piecing dream fragments together, until he finally remembered the nasty turn the dream had taken at the end. "Damn you, Hojo," he said aloud. "Can I not even have my dreams of her to myself?" Despite the logical reasoning, that it had been his irritation with Hojo's recent behavior that had intruded, Seph still felt uneasy. Now that he was completely awake, he still felt a strong sense of foreboding about Kyoko Valentine, like she was headed straight into danger. "At three o'clock in the morning?" he exclaimed in frustration. Since he spent so much time alone, he was used to talking to himself. "What could she be doing right _now_?"

Usually pragmatic to a fault, Sephiroth had nevertheless noticed that his feelings about his friends could be uncannily accurate. Such a presentiment had saved Angeal's life once before. Was Kyo a friend? He liked her, maddening though she was, so he guessed she was.

Seph pushed his silver hair out of his eyes and sighed. He knew his sleep was probably trashed for the night, and he was accustomed to waking up early anyway. Poking around with his feet until he found his sheepskin slippers, he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. After he ate, he would figure out what to do about this bad feeling.


	7. Departure

**Author's Note: **Okay, okay! I promise, after this, we'll have more Sephy! But I couldn't just leave the Valentines like that, could I?

**Disclaimer:** Although I occasionally act otherwise, I own the game, not the people in it.

******

Kyoko did feel a little remorse the next morning, but she knew that, if she stayed, she and her mother would eventually fall out permanently. Tat's friend with the truck was out of town, but he and Vincent had borrowed some Chocobos. Without a word, one of Tera's lieutenants led up a beautiful, black Chocobo and handed Kyo the reins. Amid much warking as the black exchanged remarks with the two other, yellow birds, Kyo and her brother loaded up her stuff. Tat's normally dark blue eyes were nearly purple from the red highlights all of the Valentine children had from Vincent. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" he asked.

"I'll keep my head down, Little Brother, don't worry," she replied lightly. "If I'm not safe with Verdot, where will I be? It's long past time I moved out anyway. Mom and I were about to kill each other as it was." She patted the black Chocobo, who was butting his head against her shoulder and warking.

"You didn't even _think_ you were leaving without saying goodbye to us, did you?" Harumi demanded, as she and her twin ran out. Kyo threw her arms around them both, and Tat hugged all three of them.

Looking ostentatiously at his watch, the older boy said, "Well, Dad'll lead one of these fellas, but I have to get going, so I guess you two will _have_ to give Kyo a hand, right?" He hugged Kyoko again. "Don't be a stranger, Big Sister."

When Vincent joined them, he only looked resigned when he saw the twins rather than Tatsuya. "Your mother will have a cat," he sighed.

All three of the younger Valentines shrugged, and Kyoko handed the black's reins to Masaru and picked up her backpack, which held only personal things (including Seph's drying bouquet). They knew she could easily handle three trained birds by herself, but no one wanted to talk about the real reason the twins and Vincent held the lead ropes. Bending her head, ostensibly to sniff her flowers, she said, "Shall we? If we take too much longer, Verdot will be late for work."

As they walked through Midgar, Saru and Kyo talked about pretty much anything _but_ this morning's walk and the reasons behind it. The black Chocobo the boy was leading was clearly someone's personal bird, because he kept butting for caresses any time they stopped to let traffic pass. When Vincent stopped them to readjust a pack on his bird, Kyo saw a scrap of paper in the black's halter. Picking it out with her fingernails, she saw it was a piece of the ultra-thin paper Scouts used to pass messages. Unfolding it, she saw her mother's most hurried writing. The almost unreadable scrawl said, "His name is Shadow. He's an excellent bird, take care of him." Kyoko blinked back tears and handed the note to her father.

Saru, reading over his father's arm, said, "No way. Mom's spent ages on her Chocobo breeding project, and Blacks are hard to get. And he's mostly trained."

Vincent half smiled. "Don't make the mistake of thinking your mother doesn't feel bad, Masaru. She was in tears last night, though she'd flay me if she knew I'd said anything. She'll actually miss having you to snipe at, Kyo."

Kyo chuckled. "Sorry, Dad, but it looks like you'll have to take my place. She doesn't want to alienate Tat as well, and the twins and Shiori are too precious to go after." Haru rolled her eyes, and Saru laughed. Unlike her siblings, Kyo realized that her mother wasn't the only one who'd gone too far last night. "I suspect Shadow has hidden depths, as befits a Scout Chocobo." The subject of their discussion _warked_ at the sound of his name, making all four of them laugh.

Goodbyes were just as awkward as she'd known they would be. Verdot's servants carried off her stuff, and she was left standing empty-handed next to her new Chocobo, wondering what to say. The twins ended the awkward pause by rushing to hug her, both at once. Vincent joined in, not bothering to hide the fact that he was feeling a bit emotional. "I'm your father," he said. "I'd be a failure if I wasn't a bit upset at my little one growing up." At that, Kyoko was hard-pressed to keep from crying like her sister already was.

Finally, reluctantly, the other Valentines led the two rented Chocobos away, leaving Kyo by herself at her new home. Verdot, who had been standing unobtrusively by the stables, motioned to her. "Your lovely fellow there will be sharing his new home with my spoiled ladies, Buttercream and Oakleaf." Hearing their names, a yellow and a green poked their heads up from their water and greeted the new male with coy enthusiasm. Verdot laughed. "Good thing they need Nuts to breed or we'd be overflowing with Chicabos in no time."

Kyo laughed as well. "And, just to annoy the 'serious' breeders, at least one of them would be a Gold, and we'd never hear the end of it." They were discussing the vagaries of Chocobo racing over a late breakfast when a tall man, strange to Kyoko, joined them.

"Ah, Angeal," Verdot greeted the new arrival. "I know I'm not late yet, so what brings you here?" A Scout to her core, Kyo studied the man. He was confident, like all of those in SOLDIER, she figured, and was dark where Seph was pale. A massive sword was slung across his back, but from the way he stood, she could tell he was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat.

"Two reasons," Angeal said, winking at the redhead, who blushed. "I'm glad to see your guest here, because both reasons concern her. First of all, Sephiroth asked me to give Kyoko this." He handed her a small envelope. As she carefully opened it, the older man continued, "Also, I'd rather like to get to know you. You seem to have made quite an impression on Sephiroth, and that makes me curious."

Verdot, seeing her trying to be politeand_ not_ look at her message, said, "Why don't you get your room set up while I make coffee and ask Angeal some questions. I can easily tell the Board I was late because he had a message for me."

Upstairs, Kyo pulled the three items out of the envelope: A high-security keycard, a map of the Shinra building with one set of rooms circled in red, and a cryptic note: "Kyoko, this will probably sound three-quarters crazy and the rest unbelievably arrogant, but I would not be so bold as to send you a message I did not believe myself was important. Please keep an _extra_ (underlined twice) vigilant eye out for Hojo, and, if you need to escape him in a hurry, the key opens the door to my rooms. I set up a special lock that keeps Hojo out no matter what, so it's the safest place I can think of. I realize this sounds unbelievable and insanely paranoid, but you can ask Angeal: When I have these feelings of (several words crossed out) doom, I guess is the word, they have yet to be proven false. Be safe. Sephiroth." For the second time in about a week, a note from the enigmatic General had her floored. Sighing, she put the key and the map in the pouch she only took off when she slept, with the rest of her important things. Grabbing her Scout gear, she went back downstairs.

In Verdot's kitchen, the two men were drinking coffee and discussing Shinra's politics when the young Scout entered the room, still looking a bit disturbed. "The board meeting was postponed so I can actually get something _done_ today instead," Verdot said, turning to greet her. Seeing her expression, he and Angeal frowned. "Bad news from Sephiroth?"

"Not…exactly," she replied. "Angeal, I realize you came here to ask me questions, but I have some for you first: Sephiroth said he has a 'bad feeling' about me and Hojo, but it sounds more specific than what I already know, which is that the creepy bastard would love to get his clammy little hands on me. He said you could attest to how reliable these feelings are. I've had something of the sort myself, but there's no way for me to know if mine are reliable, let alone his. My mother gave me a Chocobo that is out of her specially trained line, which means she feels it, too." Kyo looked hard at the SOLDIER. "In short, what the hell is going on?"

Both men looked surprised, but Angeal answered, readily, "As to the first part, Seph's 'feelings' have warned Zack, G, and me of more than one potentially dangerous situations. To the second part, Hojo regards your father as a traitor and a failure, and you are correct in saying that he would go to extreme lengths to 'obtain' him or any of his descendents. Also, Tera has balked him more than once in the past. I would guess that he has no plans in motion, and Seph doesn't know you well enough to have anything more solid than a bad feeling." He frowned. "It was Hojo who called off the meeting, but it can't have anything to do with Sephiroth; he's in Kalm, supervising some construction work."

Verdot looked thoughtful. "Lately, all of his serious projects have involved Sephiroth. He was talking about cloning at some point; Gaia preserve us if he's been successful."

Angeal shook his head. "As egotistical as he is, he'd let everyone on the Continent know, seeing as it's supposed to be impossible. Besides, all of the plans I heard about involved the special reactor in Nibelheim, and he can't get away from Midgar right now."

At the word "Nibelheim," Kyoko suddenly saw flames in her mind's eye and heard terrible laughter. She shook off the unease that the brief vision had called up and resolved to talk to Seph about it. "Well, I know you'll keep an eye on the twisty bugger, so I won't do anything ostentatious, just stepping up my personal security, which I was going to do anyway. I have a patrol in a couple hours, so why don't we talk about what you came to talk about, Angeal."


	8. More Changes

**Author's Note: **Here we go. It should start to pick up again now. If the pacing seems odd, please, someone tell me. It's something I worry about. Oh, for those of you who don't know, the "Academy" is the Shinra Military Academy, where Elena's (and the Turk Gun's) father taught.

**Disclaimer:** Nuts. Still don't have my very own Sephiroth. So sad. Oh well. Square-Enix has the one and only, and most of his friends to keep him company.

*******

News went around Shinra quickly. Sephiroth knew this, so he wasn't terribly surprised that he was receiving even more covert attention than usual. He finally lost patience when some of the Academy students started stalking him. "_Was_ there something?" he demanded, whirling on one trio. "I could do without the extra shadows, thank you."

To his surprise, one of the cadets gathered up his courage and said, "Um, yes, actually, sir. I had a question for that girl who beat you."

He was getting extremely tired of that particular phrase. "Kyoko, yes. Why?"

"I, that is, uh, _we_, want her to teach us, sir." Sephiroth was about to brush the boy off, but he realized that he and his friends were serious. He thought about it for a minute as the kid added, "She's amazing; they don't teach that at the Academy."

"Your regular teacher will probably not be amused," Seph pointed out. "I can ask the lady, but it all depends on her and what the people at the Academy think." As the cadet started to thank him and back off, the General held up a hand to stop him. "On two conditions: First of all, _stop following me_. I'll let you know as soon as I'm able." His green eyes narrowed, and the boy's blue ones widened in fear. "Secondly, my friend's name is Kyoko. If I _ever_ hear 'that girl who beat you' again, I will be forced to prove immediately that she is an exception. Do I make myself clear?" The boy gulped and nodded, his spiky blonde hair bouncing. "What is your name, so I can find you again?"

"Strife, sir. Cloud Strife." The name sounded faintly familiar… oh, right. Zack had been talking about this kid; said he had a lot of potential. "And of course we agree to your conditions, sir."

Since he'd recognized the boy, Seph felt faintly guilty for blowing up at him in particular, and so merely nodded him off instead of warning him further. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rest of his "shadows" follow the lad off, and resisted the urge to chuckle. An impression of levity wouldn't help him right now.

An hour later, he was patiently explaining to the close combat teacher, for the umpteenth time, that Kyoko was _not_ trying to steal his job. He was being quite patient, in his opinion. He hadn't throttled the moron yet, which would have been "undue force," certainly.

To his immense relief, Kyo herself sailed onto the training grounds. "Thank Shiva," Sephiroth muttered. Louder, he said, "Over here, Kyoko, if you wouldn't mind."

He saw a lightning-fast smirk cross her face, but she came over immediately. "You're just who I was looking for, General," she said cheerfully. When the instructor launched into his explanation, Seph got the distinct impression that the girl knew exactly what was going on. It was her job, after all. As the fathead started into his tirade, Kyo held up a hand. "First of all, since I have made no indication either way, you have no cause to be shouting at me. Secondly, since anything I _did_ teach would be purely supplemental, my 'students' would have to pass a physical qualifier, as I have neither the time nor the inclination to teach raw novices, or indeed anyone who isn't about as far as you can teach them. Last of all, and more importantly, that last remark of yours bordered _very_ close to insulting my father and my family, and I don't believe that would be a life-affirming action, do you?"

Seph tried not to grin as the man stammered an apology. This was one of the rare times where he got to be the spectator as someone _else_ intimidated the stuffing out of an idiot. "I personally feel that some of the older students could use a slice of humble pie, if nothing else," he put in when he got control of his amusement. "Some of them think they're almost as good as a SOLDIER. Ms. Balia here could disabuse them of that notion, at least."

"I would have to reconcile it with all the rest of the things I have to do, so it would be irregular, at best," Kyo added. "How many cadets would you say are at the top…say 5% of your classes, Instructor Kelm?" Though her voice had been icy a moment before, she spoke to the trainer now as a colleague, and he responded as one.

"I'd say no more than ten, fifteen at the absolute most. The very best at hand-to-hand go to the Turks early, usually, and you already have _those_," the man said thoughtfully. "What are you teaching them that I can't?" Since she'd appealed to his better nature, it was an actual question, rather than an accusation this time.

"I've been taught in hand-to-hand since I was six or seven years old," she replied. "At that age, you learn different ways of doing things that compensate for your size and lack of strength. That was my second question: I don't want the huge fellas that can muscle their way through a fight; the people that'll learn the most from me are ones that are built like I am; agility and maneuverability will be their allies there. I'll even take someone who isn't doing as well in class if I think they have the potential to do it better my way. Keeping that in mind, how many?"

Kelm closed his eyes in thought. "Strife, Jenkins, Farelly, Risard…maybe Kunai and Ravell…" He opened his eyes and said, "Those six, maybe one or two more. The other guys are big enough that strength is a bigger asset than any kind of maneuverability." He smiled. "I apologize more sincerely for my earlier behavior. Those young demons are hard enough to deal with without outsiders coming in and mucking about with my classes, which is what I thought you were doing."

Kyo smiled back. "No one likes to be subverted, certainly. I'll have to talk to my boss, but if I have the spare time, I will try to work this in. I enjoy teaching talented people."

Seph, who had been watching in some bemusement, had a thought. "Would you mind having another SOLDIER as a student? Zack is more used to hand-to-hand than I am, but refresher courses can't hurt, and he's around the same age as most of the cadets, so he'll feel comfortable around them."

"Certainly," Kyoko answered. "I'm going to guess by the mere fact that he's a SOLDIER that he'll be more than competent enough, and one more added to a group that size won't make a difference." She and Kelm agreed to meet to discuss the specifics of the "supplementary hand-to-hand course" at a later date, and Seph offered to walk with Kyo back to the Turks' own training area.

As they talked about the class, Seph was struck with how easy it was to talk to the girl. He didn't make friends easily, and they had certainly not started off well, but here he was, chatting with her like they'd known each other for years. As he was coming to this conclusion, she asked, "So what was up with your cryptic message this morning? Have you had any more thoughts?"

He glanced at her to see if she was serious. She was. "Well, nothing specific, but my uneasy feeling isn't going away," he admitted. "Angeal told me you moved out of your parents' house. Was that because of me?"

"Not completely. My mother and I have been at odds for some time now. The situation with you just crystallized our disagreement." Kyo patted his arm reassuringly. "Don't worry about it; it's well past time I stopped living with Mommy and Daddy anyway."He blinked at her. Very few people touched him, none of them casually. She noticed his surprise. "What? Did I grow another head?"

"No… nothing like that. I just do not know too many people who are as easy in my presence as you are. That isn't meant to be arrogance," he added when he realized how it sounded. "I just… intimidate people. I can't help it; it's the way I'm made." He smiled at her suddenly, and she realized anew how good-looking he was. "Not that I'm complaining; Zack keeps saying I need more friends."

"I should meet this Zack before I start my class. It sounds like we'd get along quite well," Kyo said, grinning. They talked about the friends he _did_ have, and her friends as well, as Kyo put her stuff in her locker and ducked into a changing stall.

"Who are you facing off against today?" Sephiroth asked.

"Tseng. I get him twice a week, since he's the best of the Turks." She came out, and he tried not to visibly dribble. Her sparring outfit was tight-fitting and he was in _much_ more of a position to appreciate it than he had been the day before. "And to tell you the truth, he still beats me often enough that I'd request working out with him more often if either of us had the time."

"Well, good luck. I have recruits to drill, so I'd probably better get going." He turned around before she could see the physical results of his reaction to her. He thought he heard a low chuckle, but he wasn't sure, and when he looked back, she was already gone.


End file.
